“As the hero of my own life story, I answer the quiet call of my spirit.

Change is my friend. Clarity is my power.

My life is a great adventure, always guiding me home.”

My Interpretation: What do you think of when you think of Salmon (besides the fact that you may, or may not find them delicious, lol)? I’m guessing you think of a long battle to swim upstream in order to fulfill its life’s purpose. But, what you may not think of is the sheer amount of determination it takes to do so. Salmon appears today to show us that if we focus on our goals, and refuse to give up, we can fulfill our life’s purpose. We must have faith that we will reach that place that we are meant to reach. That faith can be in our methods, ourselves, our deities, the Universe, or any combination thereof…but faith is necessary.

It is time to embrace and accept your struggles in order to overcome them and to discover the opportunities that lie beyond them. Follow your instincts, and follow your own path…everyone else may be going a different direction, but that is THEIR journey. Don’t fall into the “follow the herd” mentality, trust in yourself and look for the holes in the crowd that will let you slip past them and on to where you need to be.

It sounds daunting, and counter-intuitive to “Go against the flow”, but here’s what you may not know. Salmon does not exactly spend its whole journey fighting the current…it is actually following a series of reverse undercurrents that help it on its way home. So, like Salmon, you too must seek out those people and opportunities that can help push you in the right direction. Trust yourself enough to know that you will recognize these as they occur.

Don’t dwell on the past, nor on the difficulties of the present….and do not fear what lies ahead.

The best way I can see to convey this message is through some lyrics from Billy Joel:

“You can get just so much from a good thing. You can linger too long in your dreams. Say goodbye to the Oldies but goodies. ‘Cause the good ole days weren’t always good, and tomorrow ain’t as bad as it seems.”

It might not be a bad idea to revisit Dory’s “Just keep swimming” philosophy either. 😉